Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1887-08-30
TOOK A TUMBLE.
The New Opera House Failing by
InStallmentS.
Inter vie WIS with Architect, Contract.
ors and Owners-Theories
Ventilated.

= and near seventy-slx feet high. This part
. the building was near twenty feet high
c than the rest Of the building. 1t was read
for roofing and when it fell number
n men were present who were going to wor
ready'to go to work on the cornice. Nes
4 an hour before the fall a gentleman who ha
been working On the building noticed ths
q there was large crack in the wall of lat
appearance and thought the indications ia,
orable for tumble. He continued t
watch it until the fall and probably save
the lives Of many who arrived later an
, would have gone to work had they not bee
warned Luckily 60 one was hurt. A mum
Der were at the breakfast table in the To,
boarding house few feet west of the build
ing. Some of the debris reached the end o
the house SCATTERING some of the weather
boarding. Those on the inside
were given a genuine Old time scar,
and left the table without an ''excuse me
please" but made break for out Of danger
when..the danger was all over. One mar
was hut on the hand by bouncing brick but
injured little.
Last evening near o'clock the south and
north walls took another tumble Near forty
feet off the west ends fell to the first story.
No one was near at the time. The north
wall fell on the inside and the south wall
seemed to divide itself over the foundation
The family living in the residence adjoining
| the opera house on the south had vacat-
ed near an hour before the last fall fearing
another crash. 1t was little damaged, how
ever, by the last fall and not reached by any
of the debris from the first.
Soon after the first tumble a large crowd
gathered to see the ruins. All day the car
riages and pedestrians went to and from the
unfortunate building. The second crash
called for another visit and the rain storm
was bravely breasted by many on their Sec
ond visit. About sixty feet of the east end
Of the house now stands.
1t is sight that is painful to look upon.
The west end is a large pile of broken brick
and mortar with part of inside timbers still
in place and some forming a part of the
pile of debris. The building so far had cost
near 600. The bright hopes of the finest
opera house in the state to be completed in
few weeks, blasted without moments
warning was matter of regret not only to
those pecuniarily interested, but to every
thorough Wichitan. None but those who
are SO degraded to carry envy in their |
bosom-and few are they-were heard to |
speak in gleeful tones of the loss.
AS is known the contract for building the /
opera house was awarded Green & Thomas |
Yesterday afternoon Mr.. W. G. Green, a |
of the firm, was called on at his Of /
flee and was found bordering over some le-
gal lore. In response to questions he said: |
1.-THE brick was furnished by the parties |
having the opera house built. I told them a |
dozen times the brick was not fit to put in |
that wall. 1 don't care about saying much |
now as am in a delicate situation. The /
wall at base is twenty inches and seventeen
inches at top. If poor workmanship is the
cause of the trouble the walls would
nave fallen out but they did
not fall but crushed down. As to mortar,
5he men who made the mortar have been at
hat work for thirty years, and If they don't
Know how to make itwho does Last week l
1lumbed the wall and it was all right. The
is good, built it and not later
han ten days ago they congratulated me on
t beingfsuch good foundation. / had no
dea that it would fall"
Yesterday morning Messrs. L. M.Crawford
md G. A. Masters, the architect, were wired
he news and arrived last evening Mr..
Masters stated last evening: "The part that
ell down was built in that hot weather, and
rick was not wet before being put in the
walls, nor was the mortar properly made.
t was the contract to wet the brick and
make the proper kind Of mortar, but l know
that it was not done according to
ontract. The wall was simply a wall of dry
rick, seventy-six feet high. We could not
xpect brick wall Of dead mortar to stand. |
ascribe all trouble to defective mortar.
his is plainly seen by the brick all separat-
ng showing to adhesiveness. You can just
inch the mortar off those brick now if it is
lot Jared off. II it had been good mortar
ny man knows that you can scarcely chop
off with Ratchet In the debris YOU =
ont find any brick held together by mortar
nd If it had been good you would The +,
rick were not irst-class but they did rot I
rush, they separated near the second story /
lowing the walls to drop. tried to get t
ne contractors to wet the brick, but they t
7ould scarcely do it when / was standing 6
yer them myself. l told them strictly to G
lrow out all bad brick; not risk bad brick .
/ the walls. We furnished the brick and '
nd wanted good ones in the wall and paid o
he contractors for selecting them"
Were you ever told by the contractors that
lie brick used should not be used!
Mr.. MasteTs-Never The walls I'D to the
age are twenty-five inches thick and from
lie top Of the stage seventeen inches With
lch brick and fair workmanship that wall t
ould have been strong enough. l know of n
,era houses in Chicago with seventeen b
oh wall up for thirty feet and thirty feet on n
p Of that OF twelve inch wall with "
laster. The wall split near the s
cond story and dropped down. Il
the mortar had been good and the work
bod it would not have split. If the mortar 81
Nd been good the wall would have fallen in y
solid mass across the street. 1t could not Il
ave dropped if the walls had been good d
he foundation is six feet wide being near
20 feet wider than any other in the city,
I'd is of the best in the city. l examined
lie ground thoroughly and there is no quick &c